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Cedra
Don’t be stupid, Cee.
I flicked an errant chicken feather off my faded black work pants as I considered her offer. I disliked strangers in my home and for that reason alone, I wanted her gone.
But... She was in a difficult situation—however she’d gotten into it—and a small part of me wished to be charitable. Wished to feel human again after so long.
I sighed, letting my lungs empty.
“What’s your name?” I asked, my voice deliberately gruff.
“Twyla,” she replied quickly, her hands clasping and unclasping in front of her. The nervous gesture was...unsettling.
“Why did you run away, Twyla?”
“I was forced into an engagement with a man I couldn’t stand,” she said, her eyes downcast.
Curly strands fell over her forehead and I instantly wished I could tuck them back behind her ear. The memory of how soft each lock felt in my fingers was hard to shake.
“Nobody listened to what I wanted and I felt trapped... I didn’t have a choice but to run.”
I considered her words. “And why do you look so much like the bots I saw online?”
“My father...” She paused as though she was considering her words carefully. “My father modeled the Servana 200 bots after me. I was his inspiration.”
Oh, hell no.
My eyebrows rose at that statement.
I occasionally tuned in to the Royal One e-radio channels and knew that the Servana bots were patented by a giant conglomerate called TechStorm that owned the HumanoidGadgets brand. Its founder was a powerful Royal named Oboid. He’d been in the news a few times for his groundbreaking technological creations.
“Are you Oboid’s daughter?” I asked, and I watched her flinch as I mentioned his name.
“I am,” she admitted softly.
Nope, she definitely can’t stay.
I sighed and set my pipe aside. In the distance, I could see the bonfire still raging and people dancing near the heat source with half-empty bottles in their hands. I should have been one of those drunk people, not dealing with a fragile-looking Royal runaway.
“I don’t need any trouble,” I warned.
She nodded. “I understand.”
Twyla looked on the verge of tears, wide eyes regarding me with such hope. Those generous lips quivered almost imperceptibly in the low light. I felt it pull on my heartstrings just a little.
“I need time to consider this,” I found myself saying.
Wait, what? Why did I say that?
“Okay.”
Her voice was small, just a little whisper.
I watched as her front teeth caught her bottom lip as though she was trying to still their trembling. Her shoulders hunched forward and a few errant curls tumbled down.
“I—I’ll do anything you want, just please let me stay.”
Anything.
